


Love is Anger Disappointed

by papersandals (laronmi)



Category: Tiger & Bunny
Genre: Humor, M/M, Misunderstanding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-12-05
Updated: 2011-12-05
Packaged: 2017-10-26 23:28:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/289057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laronmi/pseuds/papersandals
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One-sided Yuri/Kotetsu. In which Yuri-as-Lunatic accidentally confesses his feelings, Kotetsu is confused, and Barnaby knows too much and is a troll.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [this prompt](http://t-and-b-anon.livejournal.com/5215.html?thread=4219487#t4219487) on the kink meme. Taking a lot of Yuri's characterization from the 6th drama CD. Link for those who have yet to read the translation: http://lunadickery.livejournal.com/3211.html
> 
> I usually don't post fics on AO3 until they're completed, but I'm hoping that this will encourage me to see it through all the way.

Some days he just really couldn't _get_ Lunatic. Okay, so he never really got Lunatic in the first place, what with the killing and the terrible outfit and the whole calling himself "Lunatic" deal—but Kotetsu had thought that Lunatic operated on some kind of thought process that almost made sense. Lunatic killed criminals. He liked provoking and insulting Heroes, but stayed out of their way unless they were in his. Lunatic hated Hero TV, and while he certainly hammed it up, he wasn't exactly eagerly jumping into the middle of shots like some kind of spotlight hog.

So why Lunatic suddenly decided to plant himself between Kotetsu and the candy-thief the Second League Heroes were chasing was beyond him.

"Oh, come on!" Kotetsu yelled. "He just broke into a candy shop and stole five pounds of fudge! You can't kill him for that!"

"Tell me something, Wild Tiger," Lunatic said. "Are you satisfied being here, forced into playing the bumbling fool for the sake of an audience's laughter? Is this where your justice has lead you?"

"Not this again," Kotetsu muttered, and while he didn't intend for Lunatic to hear what he said, the other man must have, for Lunatic suddenly leaned backwards so far that his back was almost parallel to the ground.

"Foolish Hero," Lunatic said, pivoting his torso around in a manner that should not have been possible without breaking something. "In the end, your justice was as false and weak as that of all the others."

"Hey," Kotetsu said, "there's nothing _false_ or _weak_ about my justice. Just because it's different from your twisted version of it doesn't mean—"

"Twisted?" Lunatic interrupted, twisting his body into an almost normal upright position again. "It is not my justice that is twisted, it is the world. You claim to act in the name of justice, but here you are, chasing down a petty thief while the world laughs at you and ridicules your powers. Who can you save? What can you change? The only thing that is different is how much more of a joke you have become in the eyes of the ignorant public."

Kotetsu raised his arm and aimed his wire at Lunatic. "If I can stop you, then I'll save the life at least one more person tonight."

"You fool," Lunatic hissed as the wire shot out towards him. "I have not come here to take his life." His eyes blazed as flames consumed the wire before it could connect. "The footsteps of Thanatos has led me here to witness the death of the justice you have claimed to believe in. I have seen it with my own eyes, yet you still cling to its corpse as if it can free you."

"What are you even talking about?" Kotetsu asked as he decided to forgo subtlety and just charge at Lunatic. Lunatic emitted a burst of fire, and before Kotetsu could realize where he had gone, the other man was behind him. Kotetsu spun around and threw a punch, but Lunatic caught it and gripped his fist tightly.

"This is where your justice has ended. A disappointing conclusion. I don't know why," Lunatic said, sounding almost personally offended, "I had ever placed my faith in it."

"Wait, what?" Kotetsu asked, trying to tug his hand away while mentally cursing the fact that he still had over forty minutes left before he could activate his Hundred Power again.

"I saved you over a year ago because I wished to see what the products of your toil would bring. You returned, embracing your limitations while continuing to work for justice you believed in. However," Lunatic hissed, suddenly leaning in a little too close for Kotetsu's comfort, "instead of fighting against the restraints of this unjust system, you willingly gave in, allowed yourself to throw your principles to wayside, and became no better than those useless idiots parading around with their flashy costumes and inability to get anything done. You simple-minded, ignorant, fool of a Hero, always getting in my way in the past and now getting out of my way so much that I can't even _see you_ —"

"Uh, wait a minute," said Kotetsu, who was suddenly starting to feel very uncomfortable from not only the way that Lunatic was way too close for comfort, but also from the fact that the man's hold on his fist had changed from a tight grip to something that felt a bit too...intimate.

"—because you're running around with these Second-League idiots whose NEXT powers are so pitiful that they aren't even any better than regular humans," Lunatic continued, seemingly unaware of Kotetsu's discomfort. "If any of the Heroes should have been demoted into the Second League, it should have been that useless Rock Bison instead of you—"

"Hey!" Kotetsu protested as he decided to swing at Lunatic with his other hand. "I'm not going to let you talk that way about my friend!"

"—even if seeing your face causes me pain. And— _why am I even in love with you?!_ " Lunatic yelled as he caught Kotetsu's other fist.

 

There was silence.

 

And more silence.

 

And then Kotetsu went, "Uhhh," as Lunatic suddenly let go of his hands.

 

And then he heard Barnaby yell, "Kotetsu!" as Lunatic made some kind of distressed sound before flying away.

"Kotetsu!" Barnaby called out again as he neared. "Are you all right? Did Lunatic do anything?!"

"Uhhhh," Kotetsu said. "Um..."

"Kotetsu," Barnaby said, lifting up his face plate to peer at him in concern. "Did something happen?"

"I," Kotetsu said, dragging the word out for as long as he could, "think that...Lunatic just said he loved me?"

Barnaby stared at him. Kotetsu shrugged.

"I mean, I could have misheard, but... No, I'm pretty sure he just told me he loved me."

Barnaby opened his mouth, said nothing, and then closed it again.

"Uh," Kotetsu said again.

"Well," said Barnaby. "That's... Um."

"Yeah," said Kotetsu.

The two of them stared at each other awkwardly until the rest of Second League Heroes finally joined them to let them know what had happened to the thief.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kotetsu visits Yuri and proceeds to stick his foot in his mouth multiple times.

He never enjoyed being in the courthouse. It was a reminder of too many failures, too many fines, too many times Judge Petrov had glared at him with an expression that either said he wondered how Kotetsu had ever made it as a Hero or said that he hated his guts and wished Kotetsu would never come back.

Even so, Kotetsu trusted Petrov, since the man was fair and intelligent, and Kotetsu preferred talking to him than the person actually in charge of Lunatic's case at the Justice Bureau.

Which was why he was twiddling his thumbs outside the courtroom door as he waited for Petrov to come out.

"Oh, your honor!" Kotetsu called once the heavy doors opened and Petrov stepped out from the courtroom, still dressed in his heavy black judge's robes. "Could I speak to you for a moment?"

Judge Petrov, who had seemed rather weary and frustrated when he came out, looked at Kotetsu and stopped in his tracks. His expression shifted to one that Kotetsu could easily read as shock, and then after a few seconds, changed to something that Kotetsu couldn't interpret. Petrov lowered his gaze and there seemed to be a darkening of the skin on his face, but for what reason, Kotetsu couldn't tell.

"Uh, are you okay, your honor?" Kotetsu asked, stepping towards him. Petrov nodded and quickly moved past him, leading him down the hall.

"Just," Petrov paused and cleared his throat. "Just fine, Wild Tiger. It's been a while since I had seen you last. What is on your mind? Even if you have moved to the Second League, as the Curator for Hero TV, I would be happy to listen to anything you have to say."

It was things like that that made Petrov such a nice guy, even though he was a bit of a hardass in the courtroom. "Thanks, your honor, but what I want to talk to you about only has a little bit to do with Hero TV. Er, actually, is there somewhere private we could go?"

Petrov stopped again. "I— ...Private?"

"Yeah. It's kind of confidential stuff? I don't think it's something I should be talking about in the middle of the hallway."

"Er, of course," Petrov said, and Kotetsu saw him nod. "Then let's speak in my office. If you could follow me?"

Petrov's office was...well, it was an office. Kotetsu had never been in it, but it looked pretty much what he thought the office of a judge would look like, except for the chair. He'd thought that Petrov, being such a bigshot in the city, would have a giant leather chair that spun and leaned back and maybe had some fancy massage feature. Instead, the office chair in his office was modest, made of wood and some sort of slightly fuzzy material. It looked more like a chair that belonged to a librarian than a judge.

When Kotetsu said as much, however, Petrov just gave him a blank stare. A very long lasting blank stare.

"Uh, your honor? Are you okay?"

"—Ah, yes. I am. What you said was very," Petrov paused and turned towards the tea set he had on his desk, "...interesting. Tea, Wild Tiger?"

"Yeah, thanks," Kotetsu said. Petrov went on to make the tea, and Kotetsu took that time to make himself comfortable on the plush bench next to Petrov's office door. When he was handed a cup of tea, he took one sip, made a face at the sweetness, and then set the cup and saucer down on the bench.

"What did you wish to speak to me about?" Petrov asked before sipping at his tea. Kotetsu gave a sheepish laugh and rubbed the back of his head.

"It's, uh, about Lunatic."

Petrov's eyes snapped up to him over rim of his teacup. "Ah?" Petrov said as he lowered the cup. "I had heard you had run into him the other night, although the report of the encounter was not very detailed."

"Y-yeah. It, uh, was kind of weird. I think Lunatic's gotten even loonier. Didn't think that was possible, but he proved me wrong."

Was it his imagination, or did Petrov twitch? "Ah? Well, Lunatic can be rather unpredictable. He has evaded capture for quite some time now, which is extremely frustrating to everyone at the Justice Bureau."

"Uh huh. But I think he's really lost it now. I mean, he was an idiotic nutbag before," Petrov twitched again, and Kotetsu suddenly felt bad for talking about a person that Petrov must have hated due to how much trouble he caused for him, "but I think he definitely deserves the name Lunatic now."

"Is that so," Petrov said flatly, and Kotetsu laughed nervously.

"Uh, your honor, I know that you and everyone else working here hates his guts, so if you'd rather not hear this, I can leave."

"No, no," Petrov said. "It's quite all right. This is, after all, part of my job. In addition, any information you have on Lunatic would be a valuable asset. Please, continue."

"W-well, it's kind of embarrassing, but Lunatic—he, uh..."

Petrov sipped his tea.

"He, uh, told me he loved me?"

Petrov set the cup and saucer down with a delicate _klink_ on the table. "I see. Was anyone else nearby when this happened?"

Kotetsu was impressed. Even if Petrov wasn't the one that Lunatic had confessed his love to, Kotetsu would have thought that most people would have been at least a little surprised. Petrov, however, was as cool as a cucumber, taking in the information almost as if he'd been anticipating it.

"No, there wasn't anywhere else there. Lunatic got away just as Bu—Barnaby arrived. Actually, he was the one that suggested to leave that bit out in my report."

Petrov leaned forward in his seat. "Oh? So Mr. Brooks knows?"

"I wasn't really thinking when I told him."

"Does anyone else know?"

"Other than you? Nope. Barnaby told me it would be a good idea to keep a lid on it in case Hero TV heard and tried to make a deal out of it."

Petrov closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. "I have to agree. It would not do if this piece of information got out to the public. It may cause unneeded complications."

"Bunny said the same thing! He also said that Hero TV might try to make a big deal about it on air, so they'll try to push me to hold conversations with Lunatic or something for the ratings. Not like Lunatic can even hold a decent conversation, though. Everything he says is, 'blah blah blah justice, blah blah blah Thanatos, blah blah blah criminals'. He's a broken record, you know?"

Petrov had opened his eyes again and was looking at Kotetsu with an indescribable expression that made Kotetsu suddenly feel as if he should seriously reevaluate his life choices.

"I mean," Kotetsu said nervously, "what is a Thanatos anyway? Lunatic's just sprouting nonsense half the time—"

"Thanatos," Petrov said in a monotone voice, "is the Greek god of death."

"—Oh. You're pretty smart in a lot of things, huh?"

"I have a wide variety of interests," Petrov said in the same tone of voice. "Was this all you wished to speak to me about?"

"Yeeeeees? I just thought it'd be a good idea for someone other than us to know, and I trust you, so..."

Petrov looked taken aback. "You...trust me?"

"You're the guy in charge of the Justice Bureau, right? If we can't trust you, who can we trust?"

"A-ah, while I'm not in charge of the entire bureau, you are still correct," Petrov said. "Do not worry, Wild Tiger. I will make sure that this information will not fall into the wrong hands."

"Thanks a lot, Judge Petrov. It means a lot to me."

Petrov nodded. "Think nothing of it, please. I ought to be thanking you instead."

When Kotetsu left, Barnaby was waiting for him with their bikes.

"How did it go?" Barnaby asked. Kotetsu sighed.

"I always feel nervous talking to that guy, no matter what the topic is. He took the news a lot better than I thought anyone would take it, and he seems to know what to do."

"Judge Petrov is a good man," Barnaby said. "Just...a bit distracted sometimes."

"I think I get what you mean. Still, it's good to know that someone official knows about this and won't leak it to the tabloids. I don't want to fend off reporters."

"Of course not," Barnaby said, revving up the engine. "By the way, I thought of something while you were in there. While it is entirely possible for Lunatic to have fallen in love with you through your confrontations with each other alone, I think it's much more likely that he's either been stalking you or knows you personally in some fashion, and fell in love with you because of it."

"Can you not say that he's in love with me so casually?" Kotetsu muttered, but Barnaby ignored him as they took off.

"While Lunatic's sanity and methods are definitely questionable," Barnaby said over the sound of the engine, "if by some chance you do know him or have run across his civilian identity, we can use that to find out who he is."

"What?" Kotetsu yelled. "How?"

"If he really is in love with you, then that should be telling even in his civilian identity. It's a bit of a stretch, but we may be able to figure out his identity if we can find a man who is in love with you."

"I dunno, Bunny," Kotetsu yelled as he clutched his hat to prevent it from blowing away. "I can't even think of a woman who's in love with me right now."

It was hard to hear anything over the hum of the engine, but Kotetsu could have sworn he heard Barnaby say something that sounded like, "Poor girl," to himself. When Kotetsu asked him about it, however, Barnaby just shook his head and concentrated on the road, and the two of them drove back to Apollon Media in relative silence for the rest of the trip.


End file.
